


eye of the storm

by hamiltone



Category: Do No Harm (TV)
Genre: Fluff, angsty fluff, womp womp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-01 05:11:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12149319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hamiltone/pseuds/hamiltone
Summary: ruben recovers and reminisces. lincoln helps him through.jason watches, waiting.





	eye of the storm

Ruben had always loved the beach. 

Its gentle waves, the stinging, yet refreshing smell of salt water, the soft sand crunching beneath his feet, the sun’s rays blanketing him in a covering of warmth and, most of all, security. When he was on the shore, he felt at peace. He used to, anyway.

Now he hated it more than anything. 

It was all Ian. Ian dragging him through the sand as sharp pieces of shell rubbed against him, Ian throwing him into the eye-burning, parching salt water and holding him there until he thought he was going to die on the spot, Ian throwing him back out for a moment into the blinding rays of the sun for a gasping breath, only to shove him back into the watery mess of sand and swamp. Since that final encounter, he looked at the shore from afar and recoiled in fear. 

So there he stood, on the balcony, overlooking the sea he once adored. The salt-smelling, cooling wind blew in a steady breeze, creating a hypnotizing haze of what anyone else but him would call peaceful. He called it memory-inducing. But he was drawn to it anyway. He felt so stupid, like a fish being lured to a reel he knew would feel and ultimately be horrible in the end.

“Hey.”

Ruben turned. Lincoln stood in the doorway, his shoulder-length curls pulled back into a messy updo. His eyes were dark brown, but in the light glimmered as blue as the sea. Ruben would’ve loved that a year ago. But now? He couldn’t bear to stare right into that color for more than a few seconds. He sighed as Lincoln started over to him, stopping right next to him on the edge of the balcony. 

“You alright?” Lincoln asked, knowing the answer. Ruben knew he just wanted to know what was wrong. He leant his head on Lincoln’s shoulder, gazing blankly at the setting sun just above the horizon. 

“Just thinking…” Ruben’s tired, saddened voice was a dead giveaway of how he felt: upset and weak. “You don’t have to stay. I’ll be alright.”

“No you won’t.” 

Ruben sighed again. “You’re right.” 

They didn’t say much for a while, Lincoln watching the slowing tide of the rolling waves while Ruben continued to glare at the now nonexistent sun, its remnants a beautiful pink sky. After what seemed forever, Ruben spoke.

“It’s getting cold out here.” Ruben raised his head from Lincoln’s shoulder. 

“I don’t feel it.” 

“Of course you don’t, you grandma; you always wear those knit sweaters,” Ruben remarked. Lincoln smirked, rolling his eyes jokingly. And, for the first time in weeks,

Ruben genuinely laughed. 

God, how Lincoln had missed that.

They walked hand-in-hand from the balcony, leaving the memories, striding towards a new day, another chance to make things better- and, for Ruben- whole again.

-

“What in the world are you making now?” Lincoln walked over to the counter, where Ruben was pouring the strongest coffee in the house and a packet of hot chocolate into an enormous polka-dotted mug. The powders caked his hands in the process, but he looked up at Lincoln with a sly grin. 

“Bootleg mocha,” he remarked as he threw the empty hot chocolate packet into the trash can and moved to the sink to wash the now sticky powder off his hands. He turned to Lincoln as he adjusted the faucet to lukewarm. “Want a taste when it’s done?”

 

“Oh hell no. That’s gonna taste like a Starbucks gone wrong.” Lincoln’s voice sounded judging, but Ruben could tell there was a lightheartedness to it. He took a couple pumps of the obnoxiously vanilla-scented soap before rinsing his hands and strolling back over to Lincoln with a fake-innocent smile. He inched away. “Ew. You smell like a febreze air freshener.” 

Ruben smirked, waving his hand in front of Lincoln’s face. “At least I smell fresh. How long has it been since you showered?”

 

Lincoln rolled his eyes, but smiled. “Finish making your monster-coffee, nerd.”

“I surely will,” Ruben retorted with a grin, and walked back to the counter where his concoction lay, ugly as ever. He took a plastic pitcher off of the water heater plugged into the wall and began to pour steaming water into the ceramic mug. “It smells like-”

“Like a sugary mess?”

“No,” Ruben insisted, setting the pitcher down and stirring his drink with a spoon. He sighed bittersweetly, looking down at his boiling hot coffee. “Like- like my-” he paused for a moment- “Like my old home.”

 

“Oh.” The room fell silent, the faint sound of the speaker playing jazz in the living room being the only thing the two heard for a moment. “Did you like it down there? Y’know- as a kid?”

 

“Of course,” Ruben said, voice soft. “Always busy, full of traffic, but in the best way. My mom and I went to the markets all the time, and they were always selling vanilla candles, for some reason. Smells just like it.”

Lincoln smiled sadly, taking Ruben’s hand in his own. Healing his wounds. “You- you really miss them, don’t you?”

“More than I can bear,” Ruben admitted, letting go of Lincoln and clutching his mug in his hands. “I wish I could go see them- not that I’m not happy here with you- but it’s just that… They’re family. I can’t go forever without them. But it’s like he took them away from me, too.”

Lincoln squeezed his shoulder in comfort. “I promise, you’ll see them again; somehow, okay?”

Ruben hesitated before nodding, exhaling a shaky breath. He blinked fast. “Yeah. Okay.”

The next morning, Ruben found a vanilla bean candle on his dresser, and broke into tears of gratitude.

**Author's Note:**

> heyo!
> 
> hope you enjoyed this chapter!! more'll be up soon!   
> in the meantime, if you'd like to check out my tumblr and/or my other ao3 works, that'd be great!
> 
> tumblr: depravityfeels.tumblr.com
> 
> lov u all <3
> 
> -dep


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